'We Wore the Right Outfit Tonight': Servers in Power Rangers Costumes Fought Off a Man Attacking a Woman in a California Restaurant The incident occurred in Oakland at a Thai restaurant, where costumed heroes became real.
By Gabrielle Bienasz •
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A real-life superhero drama came together on Friday when a group of servers proved you don't have to wear a cape to be a hero — but a fun getup does add a certain something.
According to local outlet ABC 7 News, a group of servers in Power Ranger costumes fended off a man who was attacking a woman in the NōKA Ramen & Bar restaurant in Oakland, California.
The restaurant is rainforest themed but has superhero elements — namely, sometimes Power Ranger-dressed servers and a drink called "NōKA Rangers."
Writer Ploi Pirapoken first recounted the incident in a viral Twitter thread. "The craziest thing just happened at dinner," she wrote.
The craziest thing just happened at dinner. I'm at a ramen shop owned by Thai people in Oakland dressed as power rangers, when a woman comes rushing in saying she wasn't safe—and a man came running in after her and puts her in a chokehold.
— Ploi de Vivre⁷ (@ppirapokin) October 15, 2022
Basically, Pirapoken said, a woman came into the restaurant, and behind her, a man followed and put her in a tight grip around the neck — then the woman said she was not safe and didn't want to go home with the man.
A manager in the black Power Ranger uniform (a.k.a. Zack Taylor in the series) then told the man to leave, and the assailant began trying to punch people.
"This is when all rangers yelled, 'Huey!'" Pirapoken wrote. "'Huey' is the Thai expression of the Cantonese 'Waaah,' the Korean 'Yaaa' and the English, 'The f—?'"
Then, people tell the woman to hide in the kitchen, the Power Rangers stood against the attacker, who then started yelling slurs against Asian people and eventually went outside and began throwing tables.
"I, for some reason, start wolfing down my ramen," Pirapoken deadpans. "We're trying to call the cops. Patrons are shaking & crying. The pink power ranger (hostess) tells us our food is free," she wrote.
The punching continued, and the servers/rangers ended up blocking the door to lock out the attacker, she added.
The local police force did make it to the scene at some point and confirmed the incident via public information officer Candance Keas to The Miami Herald. Keas told the outlet the attacker was "having a mental health crisis" and that he was taken to a relevant facility.
Apparently, according to Pirapoken, one server said they were "beta testing" the costumes that Friday evening "but we wore the right outfit tonight."
The restaurant posted a picture of its servers and the Twitter thread Monday on Instagram.
The employees "were real-life heroes last night when an incident occurred. Like our heroic namesakes, it's not just the powers and costumes that give us strength. It's who and what we are inside that empowers us," the restaurant wrote.
However, the restaurant also said it wanted to make clear this wasn't business as usual. "We would like to assure our guests that this event is an anomaly at our restaurant," NōKA added.
If you or a loved one is experiencing domestic violence, please feel free to call the National Domestic Violence Hotline at 800-799-7233.
